Chapter 22: Inquiring About News

The three ghosts returned quickly as well. About an hour later, they had collected some preliminary information. According to the Roadside Ghost, the underground racing king, Mad Caesar, usually ran only three routes for his races, and the ghost had gone to each of these locations. He found that all of them were roads shrouded in a heavy, gloomy aura.

The Timid Ghost and the Deceitful Ghost had managed to dig up more details. It seemed that Mad Caesar's hand had been broken by someone, and after that, instead of diving straight into the world of graffiti, he tried every possible way to restore his hand. It took him a year or two to finally join the Art Department at Shixi Branch, where he spent two years studying street art.

As for what happened next, it was just as the rumors went: one morning, he began spraying graffiti incessantly, and finally died at midnight beneath his last mural.

After hearing all this, Ou Xiaolu was still at a loss, but Zhong Kui seemed to have gained some insight.

He patted Ou Xiaolu on the shoulder. "You were right, there is something strange about this guy. Even when he was alive, half of his body was already under the influence of something else. That’s why he acted the way he did."

"What do you mean by 'something else'?" Ou Xiaolu asked, intrigued.

Zhong Kui shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure, but it could be a Spirit Vein that’s gained sentience."

Hearing this, Ou Xiaolu was startled. He thought of the trouble Karissa had encountered—the reaction caused when fragments of a Spirit Vein gained consciousness. And Room 301 had the power to suppress Spirit Vein entities. In that light, Zhong Kui's reasoning made sense.

Still, this wasn’t the right time to deal with the boss. Ou Xiaolu had a nagging feeling that taking out the boss now would only bring trouble to the whole campus.

So, he decided to leave things be for the moment and turned to head back. But halfway there, it occurred to him that since Zhong Kui was already out and the music box couldn’t be dealt with right now, what was the point in going back to the little inn?

He didn’t even have a girlfriend and had spent all three days since arriving at school sleeping at the inn—what would people think? How would he ever get a date like this?

Shaking his head, Ou Xiaolu changed direction and headed for his dormitory instead.

It was almost ten at night, but the campus was still bustling with people coming and going. Ou Xiaolu blended in without standing out.

For Zhong Kui, though, it was a rare experience to wander around so late at night. The previous owners of the folding fan had always treated him as a last resort, only releasing him in the direst emergencies. In fact, the time Zhong Kui had spent outside probably didn’t add up to what the Five Lesser Ghosts managed.

Now, with this rare freedom, Zhong Kui was happy to roam about, sometimes floating above couples to observe their every move.

Ou Xiaolu didn’t mind what Zhong Kui was doing. All he wanted was to get back to the dorm and rest. The recent days had left him frazzled, and he needed time to straighten out his thoughts.

He also remembered something else—he hadn’t drawn his daily altar lottery yet. He was supposed to do it first thing in the morning, but today had been even more eventful than yesterday, and in the rush, he’d simply forgotten.

Luckily, he remembered before midnight. Who knew if the system would hold his lottery spot after twelve?

Thinking of this, he opened the altar interface and tapped on all three altars.

What happened next left him speechless. He’d thought it didn’t matter if he only got fragments—after all, even for orange-grade cards, you only needed a thousand fragments, one a day for three years. Doable.

But he hadn’t expected things to be so complicated. Under World Card, Character Card, and Random Card, there were branching categories—like a talent tree.

For example, the fragments he just drew were “Deep Sea-Type World Card Fragment,” “Low-Magic Humanoid Character Card Fragment,” and “Extraordinary Weapon Item Card Fragment.”

But when you clicked in, you realized it wasn’t that simple.

The “Deep Sea-Type World Card Fragment” alone was divided into at least seven types: Abyssal Trench, Sunken Ship, Undersea Kingdom, Gathering Place of Sea Monsters, Deep Sea Ruins, and so on.

And you could further add descriptors like Low Magic, High Magic, Behemoth, etc.

Beyond that, you could add History, Alternate Reality, Magic, Spiritual Energy, Combat, Ocean, Death Mage, Fantasy, Technology, and other categories.

If things went as the system indicated, and he honestly drew once a day, Ou Xiaolu would probably never see another new card except for the guaranteed one every twenty draws.

But he was loath to spend money on extra draws. If it was just cash, that’d be fine—he could make six hundred thousand US dollars in three days at his current ability. No matter how expensive, it was manageable.

But the currency here was Spirit Veins—where could he find those? The only known Spirit Vein was the one at the graffiti site, and did he dare try his luck with that boss?

Just as Ou Xiaolu was racking his brains, Zhong Kui floated back lightly.

“What’s wrong with you?” Zhong Kui asked, adjusting his face. “You look exhausted.”

Ou Xiaolu glanced at him. “I’m fine. But what happened to your face? It doesn’t look like your own.”

“It’s not. Neither this name nor this skin is mine. But without the name Zhong Kui, I couldn’t control all the little ghosts I’ve swallowed. You’ll get used to it.” Zhong Kui tugged at his face, and as he did so, Ou Xiaolu could see the stark white bone beneath the flesh.

“So, can you ever become the real Zhong Kui?” Ou Xiaolu, momentarily distracted from his card woes, became curious.

“No chance. To become the real Zhong Kui, I’d have to be the one and only across all worlds. I’m not nearly powerful enough to challenge the true one. I just borrowed a bit of his power and that’s enough to be a Ghost King. Imagine how strong the real Zhong Kui must be.”

Hearing this, an idea struck Ou Xiaolu. “By the way, is there any way for you to contact the real Zhong Kui?”

This question made Zhong Kui hesitate for a long time. At last, he gritted his teeth and said, “There is, but the cost is steep. At least ten bottles of your potion.”

“What about other famous ghosts?” Ou Xiaolu pressed.

Zhong Kui shook his head firmly. “No way, but I do know of a place that might help you.”

“Oh? Where is that?” Ou Xiaolu’s interest was piqued.

“About a hundred years ago, when I first arrived on this continent, I heard of something…”